The Best Foods for a Bearded Dragon

Offering your bearded dragon the best foods possible is very important for maintaining proper health. Not only should you offer wholesome foods, but you should also vary the diet often.

Imagine if you ate the very same foods three times a day every day. That would get very boring pretty quick, wouldn’t it? You would also deprive yourself of the nutrients offered from a large variety.

If you ate nothing but hamburgers every day for months, you would most likely increase many health risks, and your general health would likely decrease. This is why most doctors advise us to eat a varied diet.

The same could be said for bearded dragons!

If you feed your bearded dragon nothing but crickets for months and months, he may begin to develop a deficiency in many of the needed vitamins and minerals not contained in crickets.

If you begin to introduce dubia roaches, horn worms, wax worms (as seldom treats), butter worms, and Phoenix worms as part of a balanced mixture of insects and include the proper mixture of fruits and vegetables, your bearded dragon’s overall nutrient intake will vastly improve.

It is also very important to add supplements to any food offered, and to gut load any insects before feeding.

One of the most frequently asked questions by bearded dragon owners is, “What are the best foods to feed my bearded dragon?”. Well, here is an easy list of the best foods for a bearded dragon.

The Best Foods for a Bearded Dragon

Staple Greens

Collard Greens

Dandelion Greens

Endive

Escarole

Mustard Greens

Turnip Greens

Watercress

Staple Vegetables

Acorn Squash

Butternut Squash

Green Beans

Okra

Parsnips

Snap Peas

Sweet Potato

Yellow Squash

Occasional Greens

Bok Choy

Carrot Tops

Celery Leaves

Cilantro

Cucumber (peeled)

Kale

Kohlrabi Leaves

Parsley

Swiss Chard

Occasional Vegetables

Asparagus

Beets

Bell Peppers

Broccoli

Carrots

Cauliflower

Celery Stalks

Green Peas

Pumpkin

Zucchini

Greens and Vegetables to Rarely Feed

Beet Greens

Spinach

Tomatoes

Greens and Vegetables to NEVER Feed

Avocados

Rhubarb

Lettuce

Beet greens and spinach are high in oxalic acid (oxalates), which is a calcium-binding agent that limits the absorption of calcium. Feeding these foods regularly can increase the risk of Metabolic Bone Disease and other issues. They should be feed very seldom, if at all. It’s best to avoid them all together just to be safe.

Avocados and rhubarb are toxic and should be completely avoided as part of a bearded dragon’s diet.

Lettuce should not be fed to a bearded dragon (or any other reptile, really) because it lacks any real nutritional value. Lettuce is made up of mostly water, and feed it to bearded dragons can lead to diarrhea.

Small amounts of lettuce can be fed if the bearded dragon is suffering from dehydration, but be careful how much you feed. Feeding too much lettuce can lead to diarrhea which in turn, worsens dehydration. Peeled cucumber is a better option in this scenario.

Tomatoes can be fed to bearded dragons every now and then (like once every six months or so). Tomatoes are very acidic and can be difficult on their digestive system.

Staple Fruits

Mango

Papaya

Prickly Pear (Cactus Leaves)

Occasionai Fruits

Apples (peeled)

Bananas

Blackberries

Blueberries

Cantaloupe

Grapes (remove skin on grape)

Honeydew Melon

Kiwi (peeled)

Peaches

Pears (peeled)

Raspberries

Strawberries

Watermelon

Fruits to Feed Seldom or Never

Grapefruit

Lemons

Limes

Oranges

Tangerines

Any Citric Fruits

Citric fruits are high in citric acid and can be difficult on a bearded dragon’s digestive system, especially with babies. It’s best to avoid feeding any citric fruits.

Staple Insects

Crickets

Roaches (ex. dubia roaches

Horn Worms (or Goliath Worms)

Occasional Insects

Butter worms

Earthworms (rinsed)

Mealworms

Phoenix worms

Silkworms

Wax worms

Insects to Never Feed

Fireflies (lightning bugs)

Boxelder Bugs

Wild-caught Insects

Fireflies and Boxelder bugs are very toxic to bearded dragons and should never be feed to them. Wild-caught insects could be hazardous if they have been in contact with chemicals. It’s advised to avoid feeding your bearded dragon any wild-caught insects.

The staple insects should make up the largest portion of the insect offerings. The occasional insects can be added in as a supplementary portion, or offered as the seldom treat, of the insect diet. Remember that plant matter and insects should be offered daily. The percentage of plant matter to insects will vary depending on the age of the bearded dragon.

If you would like to have a copy of this best foods lists, you are welcome to download a PDF version. Simply click the link below to automatically start the download.

If you prefer, you can right-click the link and choose “Save As…” or “Save Link As…” (depends on how your browser words it), then select where on your computer you’d wish to send the download.

This website appears to include avocados under the list of foods to be fed rarely or never. For those of you who do not know, avocados are extremely toxic to bearded dragons and should NEVER be fed to them under any circumstances. This should be specified and shouldn’t be included under a list stating greens and vegetables to be fed rarely. When you are researching what to feed your beardie, be sure to look at more than one website as mistakes like this are very common and can cost you the health of your beardie.

Avacodos are toxic and to be safe I feel that that should just be clarified so there is no confusion. Other than that I did find everything else on this website to be extremely useful. This was a great list of staples 🙂